Gardner, Jaffe lead PDS to win in opener
PRINCETON >> Paige Gardner and Sophia Jaffe had to wait a year to make their high school lacrosse debut.
Although the wait was understood, yet disappointing, the Princeton Day School sophomores made their first time on the field a memorable one.
Gardner and Jaffe split six goals and the Panthers defense rose to the occasion as Princeton Day scored a 14-6 win over Pennington in the prep game Monday played on PDS’ Smoyer Field.
“This was a good start,’’ said PDS coach Jill Thomas. “There is a good balance on this team, right from the goal all the way down the field. The balance of talent is there.’’
Princeton Day (1-0) jumped to a 5-1 halftime lead only to see the Red Raiders (2-1) come back to knot the game at 5-5 with 17 minutes left in the game.
But the Panthers responded. They scored nine of the next 10 goals and Gardner and Jaffe were right in the middle of it all.
“Once they came back and tied it we just had to settle things more and keep looking for the open girl,’’ said Jaffe. “I think we were able to do that.’’
Jaffe admitted to a few nerves, but it certainly didn’t show as they scored twice in the Panthers’ second-half run.
Gardner also had a pair of goals in the PDS run and she, like Jaffe, played with the poise of a veteran.
“A game like this can set us up really well for a good season,’’ said Gardner. “Things are so uncertain and I think it was really important to get a win and set the tone. I was really looking forward to my
freshman season and it was disappointing, but it just makes us want to have great years in the future.’’
While Jaffe and Gardner had three goals and an assist. They were joined by Tessa Caputo with a hat trick. Elle Anhut had a pair of goals and an assist. Ali Surace had a pair of goals and Maggie Zarish-Yasunas had a goal.
Jordan Young had three assists, with Haley Sullivan and Christie Kelly each having one.
Pennington got three goals from Jordan Mahony, two from Bridget Lawn and Steph Balerna added one. Lawn had two assists.
The PDS attack was aided
by the great play of Hailey Wexler, who is committed to The College of New Jersey, in the goal. Wexler had 10 assists on the game and came up big in the second half to halt the Pennington run.
The Red Raiders also got a solid game in the cage as Eva Guarino had 12 saves.
But, it was the debut of Gardner and Jaffe setting the tone for PDS.
“This feels really good and I’m so excited about it,’’ said Jaffe.
Pennington (2-1) 1 5 -6
PDS (1-0) 5 9 – 14
Goals: Penn: Mahony 3, Lawn 2, Balerna. PDS: Jaffe 3, Gardner 3, Caputo 3, Surace 2, Anhut 2, Zarish-Yasunas. Assists: Penn: Lawn 2. PDS: Young 3, Sullivan, Gardner, Jaffe, Kelly. Shots on Goal: Penn 16. PDS: 26.